Latest news with #Saraiah
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Maoist legacy of Gajarla family ends with Ravi: Top Maoist's four-decade journey ends in Andhra encounter; wife, brothers, cousins — all part of movement, most killed or surrendered
HYDERABAD: CPI (Maoist) central committee member Gajarla Ravi, who was killed in an encounter in the forest areas of Alluri Sitarama Raju district in Andhra Pradesh, joined the movement at a young age and gradually rose through the ranks. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A senior intelligence official told TOI, "He was just seven when he started running errands for the Naxals and putting up posters for them." There was a brief period in his youth when his brother Saraiah tried weaning Ravi away from the Maoists and made him join an ITI at Peddapalli. But Ravi eventually joined the Chityala area Revolutionary Youth League in 1989-90. By 1990, he was in the Eturunagaram dalam, working alongside his cousin brothers Gajarla Ramesh alias Gajarla Naveen, who later died in an encounter in 2020. Ironically, Saraiah too joined the Maoist movement later. In 2002 Ravi, who was a district committee secretary of the Karimnagar east division, was demoted to district committee member after he was held responsible for the infamous Chintagudem bus blast in Warangal in which 20 civilians were killed and 16 others were injured. However, he was soon promoted again. By 2004, he had become a state committee member and later took charge of the Khammam-Karimnagar-Warangal region under the North Special Zonal Committee. In 2009, he was shifted to the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC), becoming one of its top leaders. Trail of losses Ravi's wife, Nidigonda Prameela alias Meena, was also a member of the Maoist ranks. She served as the divisional committee secretary of AOBSZC and died in an encounter in Andrapalli on Oct 12, 2018. Saraiah too was a central committee member and part of the central military commission. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now He was killed in April 2008 in an encounter in Kanthanapally forest in Warangal along with his wife Padma alias Radha. He had 70 criminal cases against him and was linked to the Manala killings, in which eight tribals were executed on charges of being police informers. Another brother, Gajarla Ashok alias Aithu, was a district committee secretary of south Bastar. He surrendered in 2015 due to ill health. He now works as a reporter with a local newspaper. His wife, Shanigarapu Uma alias Anitha, formerly part of a Maoist medical team, now works as a staff nurse in a private hospital in Hanamkonda. The eldest brother, Gajarla Rajaiah alias Posaiah, did not survive the prolonged underground life and died due to ill health. The only brother to have led a non-Maoist life is Gajarla Sammaiah, a retired coal filler in Mancherial. A brother-in-law, Ramesh alias Naveen, also a Maoist, was killed in an encounter on July 26, 2020. He was part of the Annasagar dalam.
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Maoist Ravi, sixth member of a family killed in gunfight with security forces
Representative Image HYDERABAD: Maoist central committee member Gajarla Ravi became Wednesday the sixth member of his extended family to be killed in a gunfight with security forces, marking the end of a generational association with insurgency that saw four of patriarch Gajarla Mallaiah's five sons go underground and two of them fall to bullets, reports U Sudhakarreddy. A senior intelligence official said 56-year-old Ravi, a native of Velishala in Telangana's Warangal district, was only seven when he started running errands for CPI (Maoist), including putting up propaganda posters in his village. He would go on to pick up the gun, barring a brief period when his brother Saraiah got him to enrol for a course at the Industrial Training Institute in Peddapalli. Ravi and his brothers - inherited their Maoist leanings from their father. Ravi's brother Saraiah was killed in a gunfight with anti-Maoist forces inside the Kanthanapally forest in Warangal in April 2008. His wife Padma, alias Radha, died in the same operation. Ravi's wife Nidigonda Prameela, alias Meena, was the divisional committee secretary till her death in an encounter at Andrapalli in 2018. Another brother, Gajarla Ashok alias Aithu, was a district committee secretary of south Bastar. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villa For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Villas in Dubai | Search ads Learn More Undo He surrendered in 2015 and now works as a reporter with a local newspaper. His wife, Shanigarapu Uma alias Anitha is a nurse in a private hospital in Hanamkonda. The eldest of the brothers, Gajarla Rajaiah alias Posaiah, died of illness. The only one among the siblings not to have been part of any Maoist denomination is Gajarla Sammaiah, a retired coal worker in Mancherial. Ravi's brother-in-law Ramesh, alias Naveen, was killed by police commandos in July 2020.
